Match Report : 06/04/2013

Blackpool earned themselves a hard-fought and well deserved point at The City Ground after being forced to play the final 32 minutes with ten men following Isaiah Osbourne's dismissal.

Ludovic Sylvestre put The Seasiders ahead with a fine curling effort after 27 minutes before McGugan fired in a penalty with ten minutes to go to level things up.

It was a fairly bright opening with both sides passing the ball around well and the first goal almost came inside ten minutes when Thomas Ince released Nathan Delfouneso down the left and with the defender backing off, the forward worked the ball onto his favoured right foot only to see his curled effort hit the crossbar.

Isaiah Osbourne started in place of the suspended Barry Ferguson and it was the midfielder who got the break away started with an interception midway inside his own half.

The home side settled after the early scare and began to put together some good passing moves, making Blackpool work hard out of possession, often making use of the extra midfield player in their diamond formation.

Despite their possession Forest were restricted to efforts from long range and when Blackpool worked themselves into a good position they took full advantage, with Sylvestre curling in a beauty from 20 yards out.

GOAL: Nott'm Forest 0-1 BLACKPOOL

The goal came from a Blackpool free-kick, which wasn't dealt with and when the ball dropped to Gary MacKenzie he squared the ball to Sylvestre, who stroked the ball beyond Karl Darlow in the Forest goal with a first-time hit.

The opener came on 27 minutes and although Forest continued to have the majority of the possession The Seasiders remained organised and disciplined.

Chris Basham typified the spirit shown by Pool in the first-half when he put his head into a dangerous challenge on the edge of his own area and after treatment for a small cut he was allowed to continue playing, albeit with a bandage on.

HALF-TIME: NOTT'M FOREST 0-1 BLACKPOOL

The second-half started how the first ended - with players being treated for head injuries, but on this occasion MacKenzie was not deemed unfit to continue and Craig Cathcart came on in place of the man on-loan from MK Dons.

Forest looked to regain the initiative after the early stoppage, searching for ways to break down the stubborn Seaside backline.

With Blackpool still looking relatively comfortable, their challenge became a whole lot tougher as they were forced to see out the game with ten men for the second game running, when Osbourne saw red for a late tackle.

The Seasiders were asked to play for 50 minutes on Easter Monday with ten men, and for 32 minutes at The City Ground.

Lewis McGugan was brought on for the final quarter of the game and almost made an instant impact when he stole in at the back post unmarked, but Gilks saved his first-time effort with his boot.

With Forest throwing men forward in numbers they were liable to the counter-attack but on two occasions they just got enough bodies back to snuff out the danger.

On the 80th minute the home side were awarded a penalty when Basham brought down Billy Sharp and McGugan sent Gilks the wrong way as he tucked the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.

GOAL: NOTT'M FOREST 1-1 Blackpool

Paul Ince's side saw out the remaining ten minutes of normal time, plus seven minutes of stoppage-time with great professionalism and were more than deserved of their point.